This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for assembling multi-component articles and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for automatically assembling articles, such as clips, whose components are punched from sheets of metallic stock.
Conventional methods and apparatus in present use for assembling clip type articles whose components are punched from a sheet of metallic stock are not entirely satisfactory for the reason that so far as applicant is aware, manual intervention is required in all such methods and apparatus in at least one phase of the construction of the article. For example, in the manufacture of a currently popular hair clip, each clip component is punched from a separate die thus requiring two separate presses. The components are then manually placed into respective recesses on moving belts. The moving belts transport the respective clip components to an assembly station wherein the clip components are assembled to form the clip. Thus, expensive and time consuming manual labor has been required in the assembly of such articles in the past.
Various attempts have been made to automate methods of assembling articles comprising a pair of components. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,742,575; 3,724,399; 3,378,908; 2,972,184; 1,830,021; and 1,616,641 relate to various apparatus which automatically assemble various articles by means of rotatable members which broadly interact with each other in a cooperative manner. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,339 to Metzinger et al. discloses apparatus for automatically assembling articles such as filter tips within cigar tip holders. However, such prior art apparatus are not suitable for assembling articles whose components are formed from metallic sheet stock which obviously require special handling not required in the construction of other articles.
Therefore, it can be seen that a need exists for an apparatus and method for assembling articles whose components are formed from a sheet of metallic stock in an automatic manner which requires no manual intervention.